After the away game against Deportivo La Coruna, head coach Flores and assistant coach Paul split up again.
Paul, who had been staying in Barcelona before, returned to the team and led the team in daily training.
Flores went to Barcelona to watch Barcelona's home game against Atletico Madrid at close range.
Barcelona made several personnel adjustments in this game.
Valdes, Gabri, Sylvinho and Van Bommel replaced Holkera, Edmilson, Van Blondhorst and Giuly respectively in the starting lineup, while Ronaldo Dinho was absent due to suspension due to accumulation of yellow cards, and Larsson replaced the Brazilian in the starting lineup and partnered Messi on the striker.
In this campaign, Atletico Madrid's top five attackers in the midfield and frontcourt all started in the away game.
After the opening, the two sides entered the game very quickly, and the fight was relatively fierce, but there was still a slight difference in the offense that threatened each other's goal.
It wasn't until the 33rd minute that the deadlock was broken, but it was Atletico Madrid playing away from home who took the lead.
The situation at that time was like this: Atletico Madrid launched a quick counterattack, the football was quickly moved to the right, then Ibagaza made a pass from the right, Maxi Rodriguez headed the ball over, and Torres shot with his left foot from 11 yards in the middle.
Entering the net, this is his 6th league goal this season.
When Torres scored this goal, Aiello, who was watching the game, immediately raised his arms and shouted, if Barcelona loses this game, then the next round of games will become more meaningful.
When Barcelona is defeated at home again, the point difference between the two sides will widen again.
I feel very excited just thinking about it The pace of the subsequent game suddenly accelerated, because Barcelona, playing at home, knew that if they lost this game, the next game against Valencia would become meaningless.
Taking a step back, even if we beat Valencia in the next round at Mestalla, the point difference between the two sides will still be seven points.
What’s the point?
So after falling behind, Rijkaard became unable to sit still and frequently walked back and forth in the open space in front of the home team's coaching bench, and his impatience also infected the players on the court.
After all, in order to prepare for midweek's Copa del Rey and next week's focus game, it is normal to have reservations about this game.
Personnel adjustments have also been made in multiple positions.
This lineup can be regarded as half of Barcelona's at best.
The main lineup, and Ronaldinho also took the initiative to apply for a yellow card in the last round of the game against Mallorca to avoid missing the game in Valencia, and the offensive power was greatly reduced again.
After the start of the second half, Barcelona quickly made adjustments to the personnel on the field.
But the scene on the court was still not big.
Instead, in the 47th minute, Atletico Madrid widened the score on the court.
Torres passed the ball straight from the left.
Petrov used his speed to get rid of Oleg and broke into the left side of the penalty area to cross.
Valdes made a fatal mistake and Maxi Rodriguez pushed the ball into the empty net.
What everyone didn't expect was that the following time turned out to be Messi's personal performance time.
He scored two goals in five minutes and tied the score on the field.
Messi's sudden outburst shocked Ai Luo who was watching the live broadcast.
This state is too fierce.
At the same time, Flores in the stands also felt a headache for Messi's sudden outburst.
Originally, in his plan, Leo Messi was not in the plan.
But according to Messi's current state, Rijkaard will definitely not turn a blind eye.
The game will be really unpredictable at that time.
Seeing such an outstanding Messi, Rijkaard also had a headache.
You must know that there is a reason why Messi replaced the main right winger Giuly in this game.
It was to prepare for the next round of focus battle, so the rotation was made. of.
But Messi, who is in excellent form, cannot be ignored, because Rijkaard knows the reason why Messi is so good, because he urgently hopes to get back in the competition with Ai Luo for the rookie.
This is the fighting spirit shown by Messi.
At the same time, Rijkaard also experienced the troubles of happiness for the first time.
The final result of this game was also fixed at 2-2.
After the game, Messi's performance also received unanimous praise from the public.
But this did not make Messi happy, because he knew that the performance in this game did not impress Rijkaard.
It is impossible to give too many opportunities to a young player like him in such a wealthy club.
If the team hadn't prepared to challenge Valencia in the next round, he wouldn't have been able to start in this game.
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After this game, everyone focused on the comparison of the players in the next round of games.
Among them, the one who compares with Ai Luo is not the equally young Messi, but Ronaldinho, who is currently the best performer in Barcelona.
This comparison makes Messi feel quite frustrated.
Why do you train so hard every day?
Isn’t it just to win in comparison with that Chinese guy?
But the person he was compared to was Ronaldinho, the big brother in the team.
In fact, what he didn't know was that there was a reason for such a comparison.
The first is that Aiello and Ronaldinho are currently the best players on the team.
The second reason is that the two players are both left wingers, so this comparison is made.
After Barcelona was tied by Atletico Madrid at home, the point difference with leader Valencia has widened to nine points.
If they cannot win the game in the next round, then if nothing unexpected happens, the championship this season will be Then it will become Valencia's bag.
So the next round is a must-win game for Barcelona After the match against Atletico Madrid, Rijkaard suffered a lot of pressure from public opinion.
Barcelona broke the points record and won the championship last season, but this season the league was defeated by Barron less than two-thirds of the way.
Siara reached nine points, which is completely inconsistent with Barcelona's identity.
Similarly, after Flores returned to Valencia from Barcelona, he began preparations for the next round of La Liga, and the Copa del Rey 14 finals that will be held in midweek have also been temporarily put aside.
Although the next game is Valladolid's home game, it is not necessarily that this La Liga team can beat the La Liga leader with four goals at home.
It is only a matter of time before they advance.
The next day, the mainstream media in Europe began to pay attention to the battle for the top spot in La Liga starting next week, because Valencia is so strong this season.
You must know that Barcelona only scored 84 points when they won the championship last season.
Only 22 rounds have been played so far, and Valencia has already scored 59 points.
This is the best result among the five major European leagues.
Even Chelsea, led by Mourinho, who has always been known for his stability, has so far scored 59 points.
Only 52 points.
Therefore, this round of Valencia’s home game against Barcelona has attracted the attention of mainstream media across Europe, because this game is likely to affect the championship this season.
If the home team wins, it will be a success.
If the visiting team wins, it will retain hope, and it can also put great pressure on Valencia in the future league.
A super reversal is not impossible.
So after the home draw with Atletico Madrid, Barcelona's mouthpiece Mundo Deportivo listed the famous super comeback in Barcelona's history, "The great Barcelona spirit of never giving up, don't forget the glorious 9091 and 9192 seasons in the early 1990s.
We were six points behind Real Madrid at the half-way point, but at the end of the season it was Barcelona who won the championship.
In the 9293 season, we also reversed Deportivo and won the league championship.
We have a tradition of reverses, so, We can't give up" After Mundo Deportivo's newspaper sold out that day, many Barcelona fans began to gather and cheer for the team near the first team's training ground every day.
However, they still have a Copa del Rey 14 final to play before this league, but who else cares about this game at this time?
If you lose, you will lose.
You must know that the league championship is the most important.
I don’t know if it was this relaxed mentality that actually allowed the semi-main lineup that went to Zaragoza to defeat the home team 2:0 in the away game and advance to the semi-finals first.
Messi once again performed well in this game.
He first used his personal ability to get a penalty kick, and then assisted Iniesta to expand the score.
The victory in this game also indirectly boosted the morale of the Barcelona team.
Various media also began to praise the 18-year-old Argentine player.
"Being able to advance to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, Messi, the young player from Argentina, performed well, assisting Eto'o and Iniesta to score one goal respectively.
Before the crucial twenty-third round, his excellent form It will definitely drive the whole Barcelona.
I believe Rijkaard will not turn a blind eye.
Messi, who was second only to Ai in the World Youth Championship in the Netherlands last year, is also not bad."
"Starting from today, Leo Messi will enter the eyes of Barcelona fans.
Compared with Giuly, this young player from La Masia is more talented and has more training value.
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After all, this is a player he has trained, and There is absolutely no need to adapt to Barcelona’s offensive system.”
"Oh my god, in the new year, he actually broke out.
This is undoubtedly very good news for Barcelona."
Rijkaard looked at the newspaper praising Messi in his hand and shook his head subconsciously.
As long as Giuly was not injured, he would not be able to put Messi in the main position.
This is not a traditional problem, but a cost problem.
One day later, Rijkaard finally made up his mind to put Messi into the main lineup because Giuly strained his calf muscle during training and rested for two weeks.
Barcelona defeated Zaragoza away in the 14th final, and Valencia, who traveled to Castilla, also qualified for the semi-finals.
With a semi-main lineup, they drew with Valladolid away from home.
"We must win this game" Messi clenched his fists and murmured while looking at this issue of World Sports.
Iniesta patted Messi on the shoulder to show encouragement, "Let's work hard together in this game."
Before heading to Valencia, the head coach had announced the starting lineup, with Messi and Iniesta replacing the injured Giuly and Deco respectively
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